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Forsaken

The Wheel of Time

The 13 Forsaken were channelers who served the side of the Shadow in the War of Power. They were known to followers of the Shadow as "Those Chosen To Rule The World Forever," or simply the Chosen.

The 13 Forsaken were channelers who served the side of the Shadow in the War of Power. They were known to followers of the Shadow as "Those Chosen To Rule The World Forever," or simply the Chosen. Among the Atha'an Shadar (Seanchan Darkfriends) they are known formally as Da'concion (or "the Chosen Ones"). The Aiel call them the Shadowsouled.

Although during the War of Power there were dozens of Forsaken leading the armies of the Shadow, as time passed, the term "Forsaken" came to refer to only the thirteen most powerful among them, who were caught in the sealing of the Bore and imprisoned with the Dark One. The horrific deeds of each were remembered long after their disappearance. In the Third Age, these thirteen were such infamous symbols of the Shadow that mothers would use stories of their exploits to frighten children.

A well known catechism about the Forsaken is as follows: "The Dark One and all the Forsaken are bound in Shayol Ghul, bound by the Creator at the moment of Creation, bound until the end of time," or a similar variant. This is incorrect, of course, as the Forsaken were not even born until the Age of Legends, and it is unclear if there even was an original "moment of Creation"—nor is the imprisonment forever. Due to the general weakening of the Seven Seals, some, perhaps all thirteen, had escaped by 997 NE, and all were certainly free by 998 NE.

History

In the Age of Legends, those who could channel the One Power afforded the most status and honor as Aes Sedai, living up to the literal translation "servants of all." They employed their various Talents in ways that served the good of society. If a channeler used the Power in a way that was harmful or deceitful, which was relatively rare, he or she would be bound as a criminal by a binder that prevented a repeat offense. Although some such individuals existed who were immoral, there existed little or no opportunity to prosper through corrupt means as service to humanity, in general, was the means by which one could acquire status.

It is noted that the idea of violence and war was supposedly a lost term in the Age of Legends, that the release of the Dark One spurred such evil deeds that gave the Forsaken their names and reputations, but this is incorrect. It is known that several of the Forsaken were sadistic in the application of their Talents to the general public, some even being fond of an ancient and -at the time- bloodless sport called "Swords" that allowed people to take part in a form of violence that they considered tame.

This changed when the Dark One's touch entered the world. It began when research at the Collam Daan led to an energy source, seemingly outside the Pattern, which could be tapped by both men and women equally, without the restrictions associated in the gender split of the One Power. Led by researcher Mierin Eronaile, later known as Lanfear, a bore was drilled where the Pattern was thin, into the energy source so tantalizing - and straight through into the Dark One's prison. The Bore had been created, and the effects the Dark One had on the world would affect society at its basest level, and cause the Collapse.

With the release of the Dark One upon the world, the worst attributes of human nature were rediscovered and nurtured in all corners of the world; from violence and corruption to open hate, anger, selfishness and disgust, all these things blossomed where once there had been a near Utopia.

In addition, there were now rewards for evil acts, the Dark One disdained the way the Pattern was run and encouraged those discontent with their lot with the simplest and most alluring thing that humans can be offered, the option for power in a bid to sow chaos and destruction on the thing he hated. Average people who swore allegiance to the Shadow called themselves Friends of the Dark and were promised immortality, while those who dedicated themselves to the Dark One and could channel were given the highest status and became the "Chosen", scientists and inventors who sought power and notoriety were encouraged to subvert their arts to create things for the ever increasing forces of the Shadow.

Those who were the bravest and most ambitious chose to swear allegiance to the Dark One directly, by Travelling to the seat of his power and swearing the oaths at Shayol Ghul. Of those Channellers who were called Chosen - given new names by the rest of humanity and collectively called the Forsaken - many fell, were turned or were seduced to the Shadow, but of these men and women, thirteen stood head and shoulders above all other Friends of the Dark due to their deeds in fighting for the Shadow.

Many of the male Forsaken, including Sammael, Rahvin, Demandred, and possibly Be'lal all joined due to their jealousy of Lews Therin. Others - particularly Semirhage - were utterly corrupt from the beginning, or, like Lanfear, they joined for the promise of power and immortality. Ishamael, who was something of a nihilist even before the Bore was drilled, was unique in that he joined because his logic concluded that humanity was doomed, as the Dark One could achieve permanent victory, while humanity could never truly destroy the Dark One without losing their free will. As victory was impossible, he reasoned that it would be better to join the Shadow and rule for a time before the Dark One brought the world to an end.

The War of Power and the True Power

The War of the Shadow was largely led by Forsaken. They held positions of power and leadership, commanding armies that ravaged mercilessly against defenders of the Light and innocent civilians alike, and governing territories for the Dark with rule marked by terror. They worked behind the scenes fomenting discord, spreading propaganda, and orchestrating disastrous "accidents." They perpetrated countless atrocities against humanity in the name of science, knowledge, or with no "cause" whatsoever. Acting as Dreadlords, each of the Forsaken was marked in a manner such that no Shadowspawn could disobey them. The mark also enabled the Dark One to find them at any time, such that they cannot hide from their master.

Once there were many Forsaken, at least thirty of high rank, but they schemed against each other as often as against the forces of the Light. Twenty-nine of the Forsaken were given special permission from the Dark One to touch the True Power. This was the unified source of energy originally sought by Lanfear's research, equally accessible to males and females, but only with the access granted personally by the Dark One.

By the last days of the War of Power, none approaching the strength of those now known as the Forsaken still lived, though none had died through the efforts of the Light. The Forsaken schemed and plotted against one another, each vying for the highest honor bestowed by the Dark One, which was to be named Nae'blis: the one who would stand greater than all other Forsaken, to stand higher than all humanity, second only to the "Great Lord" himself. The Dark One encouraged such activity among his servants, as he only wished the strongest to serve him. The Dark One himself had a considerable number of Forsaken killed due to his own suspicions, according to Demandred.

The Forsaken all joined the Dark One for selfish reasons - power, glory, immortality, revenge, freedom from societal restrictions, etc. This selfishness has led Verin Mathwin to make the statement that, for all their power, the Forsaken are actually fairly predictable. The sole possible exception to this was Ishamael, who believed that the cyclic nature of the Wheel made the Dark One's victory inevitable.

After the Bore was sealed, the active members of those who were called Forsaken turned their armies against each other. It is assured that none managed to survive the Breaking.

Imprisoned

The lead thirteen however, managed to survive, though trapped. They had been summoned to Shayol Ghul and all thirteen were gathered deep within the mountain when Lews Therin Telamon arrived with the Hundred Companions. The Strike sealed the Bore to the Dark One's prison using the cuendillar seals, imprisoning the Dark One and the thirteen Forsaken.

Scale of power given byThe Wheel of Time Companion

The thirteen imprisoned Forsaken were among the thirteen most powerful channelers on the side of the dark, and all of them were considered to be very strong in the One Power. They are ranked below accordingly. The values representing overall strength in the One Power are derived from The Wheel of Time Companion.

There are a number of places in the novels that define the power levels of the Forsaken as they themselves see it which appear to contradict the Companion. However, as the most recently published official source of information for the Wheel of Time series, statements made in the Companion are to be considered canon until such time as new information is published. But it is also important to note that the levels of strength given by the Companion itself in many articles are not totally accurate; in fact, there are many contradictions or even full mistakes between one article to another, with levels that do not even exist (for instance we can see in the Companion the article relative to Cadsuane and the one relative to Nicola, that are contradicting to each other, or the level of strength given in Sorilea's article, that does not exist in the scale).

Considering these contradictions inside the Companion itself, the data given by it are canon but they are also to be considered cautiously, especially when they are totally in contradiction with the main books of the series; for instance, regarding the female Forsaken we can note that Graendal in the main books is always described as second only to Lanfear in terms of strength, yet in the Companion Graendal is described as two levels below Lanfear and also Semirhage (that are at the top level) and one level below Mesaana.

There are, however, a number of in-universe explanations that may help to correct the confusion. The first of these is that the Companion defines the strength of the Forsaken only in terms of the raw, maximum amount of the One Power that each individual could draw upon at once. But as is the case with the practitioners of any martial discipline, strength alone does not determine the effectiveness of a channeler in battle. Experience, skill, dexterity, reflexes, particular Talents, and other ancillary factors that could offset raw strength are not addressed in the Companion's scale. For instance, Rahvin, despite being stronger than all of the other Forsaken besides Ishamael, appeared to be lower in status than a great number of his peers, including Lanfear, Graendal, and Semirhage, all of whom were considerably weaker than him.

It is also important to note that there is differentiation within the ranks themselves. For example, two individuals with a strength of ++2 may not be able to draw on exactly the same amount of Power, but would be closer to each other in strength than they would be to a ++1 or a ++3 channeler.

With regard to the pecking order amongst the Forsaken (which was dependent on far more than simply raw channeling ability), all that is known is that, according to Robert Jordan, "Ishamael, Demandred, Lanfear, Graendal, Semirhage, and later Sammael, were always at the top end of the pyramid."

Recent Activities

Ishamael

Ishamael, the first of the Chosen to reveal himself, haunted the dreams of Rand al'Thor, Mat Cauthon, and Perrin Aybara, suspecting one of them to be the Dragon Reborn and attempting to turn them to the Shadow.

Rand faced him three times before finally defeating him:

  1. He was badly burned by Rand during a skirmish in Tel'aran'rhiod during the same struggle that killed Aginor.
  2. Rand wounded him again in a battle in the skies above Falme.
  3. Rand defeated him a third time, finally killing him with Callandor in the Heart of the Stone in Tear.

Balthamel & Aginor

Aside from Ishamael who was only partially sealed away, Balthamel and Aginor were sealed closest to the surface of the metaphysical prison and were not protected from the effects of aging. Time wore away at their bodies, leaving both gruesomely disfigured, but no less powerful.

Their proximity to the surface of the Bore also meant they were first among the trapped Chosen released into the current Age. They set themselves to controlling the Eye of the World, but were foiled by the Green Man and Rand's inexpert channeling. Balthamel was killed by the dying Someshta, while Aginor was killed in a struggle with Rand over the pure saidin pool.

Lanfear & Asmodean

Lanfear first appeared as Selene; she tried and failed to lure Rand al'Thor to her side with her sultry beauty and whispers of glory. She was eager to reclaim Lews Therin as her lover in his new incarnation, but he was no more interested than he had been in his previous life.

Later, Lanfear posed as a peddler named Keille Shaogi and, along with Asmodean disguised as the gleeman Jasin Natael, led a train of Darkfriend merchants into the Aiel Waste. They intended to disrupt Rand's plans with the Aiel, and to get closer to Rhuidean and the access keys of the Choedan Kal.

In Rhuidean, Rand defeated Asmodean and cut his ties to the Dark One, at which point Lanfear betrayed him and weaved around him a partial shield, allowing him only limited access to the Power. In this weakened state, Rand forced Asmodean to teach him how to control his channelling of saidin. Asmodean was eventually killed by Graendal in Caemlyn.

Later, after learning that Rand had taken a lover, Lanfear confronted him at the docks of Cairhien, meaning to kill him, but Moiraine tackled her and they both fell into the twisted redstone doorframe ter'angreal, which subsequently melted to the ground, trapping them both in the land of the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn. She was drained of power and killed.

Be'lal, Rahvin, & Sammael

Be'lal, Rahvin, and Sammael became political powers assuming false identities:

  1. Be'lal became High Lord Samon in Tear and was killed with balefire by Moiraine.
  2. Rahvin became Lord Gaebril, consort to Queen Morgase in Andor, and was killed with balefire by Rand.
  3. Sammael became Lord Brend in Illian and is believed to have been killed by Mashadar at Shadar Logoth.

Because both Rahvin and Be'lal were killed by balefire, neither may be reincarnated back into the Pattern by the Dark One.

Semirhage

Semirhage attached herself to the seat of power in Seanchan. She took the guise of Anath Dorje, Truthspeaker to Tuon Paendrag, Daughter of the Nine Moons and heir to the Seanchan Crystal Throne. She also controlled the High Lady Suroth, a known Darkfriend.

After finding Tuon impossible to control and losing her to Mat Cauthon, Semirhage murdered the entire Seanchan royal family, plunging Seanchan into chaos. She then gave Suroth the task of finding and killing Tuon and promised her the Crystal Throne if she succeeded.

Semirhage plotted to capture Rand al'Thor by tricking him into attending a meeting where she posed as Tuon herself, but being forewarned, Rand ultimately captured Semirhage instead. She was killed when Rand used the True Power to escape the Domination Band and channelled balefire at her.

Mesaana

Mesaana positioned herself undercover in the White Tower, posing as Danelle Sedai of the Brown Ajah. She was part of the group that arrested Siuan Sanche during the White Tower Schism, and later part of the council advising Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan in her role as the new Amyrlin Seat. She ran the Black Ajah through Alviarin Sedai, to whom she only appeared as silver and shadow. She also ordered Sheriam Bayanar to collect all the dream ter'angreal from the Rebel Aes Sedai.

Mesaana coordinated an aggressive attack against Egwene al'Vere, Aes Sedai and many Wise Ones in Tel'aran'rhiod. At first succeeding in placing an a'dam on Egwene, the latter was ultimately able to resist through sheer willpower, and Mesaana's mind was destroyed. Though her body is alive, Mesaana remains only as a limp, mindless husk.

Graendal

Graendal disappeared into Arad Doman, plotting to aid the Shadow's cause under the guise of the ailing Lady Basene. She secretly killed Asmodean after coming across him in Caemlyn, and tried to manipulate Sammael into killing Rand, only to become mixed up with him far more than she liked.

Later she was co-opted by Moridin, who promised her a special place—subordinate to him but above the rest of the Chosen—if she were to cause Rand great anguish, while not harming him. She used Slayer and the dreamspike to try and kill Perrin Aybara, but ultimately failed.

Thinking he had her cornered, Rand destroyed her hideout, Natrin's Barrow, with balefire, but only succeeded in permanently destroying Aran'gar (the reincarnation of Bathamael). As punishment for causing the death of multiple Forsaken, she was killed by Shaidar Haran and reincarnated into an ugly body.

Resurrections

By the beginning of the Last Battle only Demandred and Moghedien survived in their original forms. Some of the dead Forsaken have been resurrected in new bodies by the Lord of the Grave:

  1. Osan'gar is the reincarnation of Aginor. He posed as an Asha'man using the alias Corlan Dashiva before being killed by Elza Penfell at Shadar Logoth.
  2. Aran'gar is the reincarnation of Balthamel. He was placed in a woman's body but still channeled saidin. She infiltrated the rebel Aes Sedai under the alias Halima Saranov, first working as secretary to Delana Mosalaine, a Black sister posing as Gray, then as servant of the Amyrlin Seat, Egwene al'Vere. When her cover was compromised by an Asha'man sensing her use of saidin, she fled. Aran'gar was destroyed with balefire by Rand al'Thor while hiding in Natrin's Barrow
  3. Moridin is the reincarnation of Ishamael. He was appointed nae'blis, lord of the Forsaken.
  4. Cyndane is the reincarnation of Lanfear. Being out of favor with the Dark Lord, she is mindtrapped along with Moghedien by Moridin.
  5. Hessalam is the reincarnation of Graendal. Also out of favor with the Dark Lord after being responsible for the permanent deaths of Asmodean and Aran'gar, and Mesaana's defeat within the White Tower, she was placed in a physically ugly body.

Moghedien

Moghedien took command of a small group of Black Ajah sisters, but was defeated and captured by Nynaeve al'Meara and controlled with an a'dam. She was released by Aran'gar and summoned to Shayol Ghul, where she was mindtrapped by Moridin.

Demandred

Demandred was the last Forsaken to be accounted for. He was once suspected to be masquerading as Mazrim Taim, but that theory has been disproved. During the Last Battle, he was revealed to have taken on the persona of Bao the Wyld, leader of the nation of Shara. He was killed by Lan Mandragoran during the Last Battle on the Field of Merrilor.

Current status

Recently

Mazrim Taim was named Chosen by Moridin shortly before the Last Battle and took the name M'Hael. Graendal was killed and brought back as an ugly old woman given the name Hessalam, which is "without forgiveness" in the Old Tongue.

Alive

  • Moghedien (Collared by Seanchan after the Last Battle ends. Most likely mind dead as well, since her soul and mind were preserved in the cour'souvra, and the Seanchan destroy all possessions of new damane.)
  • Graendal (as Hessalam) (under deep compulsion due to an accident while battling Aviendha, she now fawns over Aviendha)
  • Mesaana - Brain dead
  • Lanfear (as Cyndane) (faked her own death during the Last Battle when Perrin Aybara seemingly snapped her neck and killed her)

Killed

Notes

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